Saturday, 14 May 2011

Bombardier gets it Bang On!

This week Wells & Young’s launched a new marketing campaign and video for Bombardier, their flagship brand. It features Rik Mayall playing the animatedly gung-ho English hero, The Bombardier, single-handedly wooing women and beating armies and celebrating accordingly with a pint of himself.

There will be TV slots running from Tuesday as well as an integrated online campaign featuring Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, where you can get longer versions of the ad.

I think it’s brilliant, and as their Marketing Director, Chris Lewis, says: “Marketing in the ale category needs a creative shake up...” Now any other brewery or brand that’s running campaigns better start thinking harder (or search deeper into their pockets).

It’s using the byline of “English, ever reliable and damned tasty” and this fits perfectly with how the brand positions itself, yet it manages to be current and not cheesy. It’s funny, it’s memorable and it’s loaded with catchphrases which will become synonymous with Bombardier (Bang on! Huzzah! Enjoying a quick one down the Bush & Fiddle). It reminds me of the John Smith’s ‘Have It’ adverts featuring Peter Kay, which I think are the best beer adverts made, but unlike the John Smith’s adverts, the Bombardier one makes me want to drink a pint of it (and say Bang On after I take the first gulp!).

I hope there are more videos to come and I hope they can make a lot out of the online content because it’s a fun and memorable concept.

23 comments:

Hopefully it will get Bombardier and Charles Wells the publicity they deserve! Interestingly, Bombardier sells remarkebly well outside the U.K. as a kind-of flagship English Ale, even winning export prizes etc.

Casting Rik Mayall was genius! Great way to entice the older generation who remember The Young Ones and funny enough for those who have only heard of it and not really watched much of it(guilty!).

I only hope that if the ad campaign is successful, it will encourage them to bring back Satanic Mills, a fantastic porter that they stopped producing for a while recently!

Good stuff indeed, vintage Lord Flashheart performance from Mr Mayall definitely a funny, memorable beer advert, deserves to do well, and yes they should bring back Satanic Mills ASAP, was a lovely porter.

As Rik, Kevin Turvey and Richard Dangerous he was brilliant, as B'Stard he was good, and as Ritchie Rich he was alright. As Lord Flashheart he was totally unfunny and this is also totally unfunny.The last time I drank the beer was fifteen years ago in bottles when it was plain old Charles Wells and I liked it back then.

I like it because I think it will sell more beer and it's memorable; people are going to know about Bombardier beer and that's a good thing. I think it puts Bombardier out there as a fun brand but one that's rooted in its values of Britishness.

This advert isn't really for the beer geeks, though, is it? It's for the people who drink any old pint of beer. The next time they go into the pub and see Bombardier then maybe they'll think about ordering it. I know it was one of the first beers I drank as I got into real ale and it's a decent beer, even if it is now something I overlook for other choices.

How will it sell more beer when it perpetuates all the myths that put people off beer in the first place??

And what does 'not for beer geeks mean'? Are you suggesting that beer geeks are of some higher intelligence and therefore above this kind of puerile nonsense but the rest of the world are so stupid they'll fall for it?

It can't have escaped your notice that the beer category seeHow will it sell more beer when it perpetuates all the myths that put people off beer in the first place??

And what does 'not for beer geeks mean'? Are you suggesting that beer geeks are of some higher intelligence and therefore above this kind of puerile nonsense but the rest of the world are so stupid they'll fall for it?

It can't have escaped your notice that the beer category seems to be in terminal decline as we continue to lose drinkers to wines, spirits and ciders who have all done a top job of making their respective categories interesting, innovative and relative. There might be a pool of 'beer geeks' but they alone will not reverse the fortunes of the beer category if other people continue to ignore beer and this ad isn't likely to get anyone to put down their Pinot any time soon!!

I'm indifferent to both ad and beer - not the worst on the tele and far from genius - but surely it's dangerously close to breaching the strict ASA rules about associating sexual prowess with alcohol consumption?